In many circuit protection applications, it is desirable to employ fuses that are compact and that have high “breaking capacities.” Breaking capacity (also commonly referred to as “interrupting capacity”) is the current that a fuse is able to interrupt without being destroyed or causing an electric arc of unacceptable duration. Certain fuses currently available exhibit high breaking capacities and are suitable for compact applications. However, such fuses are often relatively expensive and can be prone to failure or exhibit reliability issues due to the connection between the fuse element and terminals. It is therefore desirable to provide a low cost, reliable, high breaking capacity fuse that is suitable for compact circuit protection applications.